Since the murder of George Floyd, many students and alumni of New Trier have been reflecting on the lack of anti-racist education at New Trier and how to best address that. Other students have created petitions demanding specific actions, such as Chase Hetler's petition to include African American history in the Social Studies curriculum and Josh G's petition to bring back Seminar Day.

We (Mira Becker, class of 2020, and Maya Crystal, class of 2021) are submitting a public comment to the New Trier Board of Education addressing the need for education on systemic racism, the shortcomings of New Trier's attempts thus far, and three steps for the Board to take: bring back Seminar Day, incorporate Black history into history curriculums, and include books written by People of Color and books about systemic racism in English curriculums. This comment is pasted below and will be read aloud at the Board meeting on June 8th at 7 p.m. If you support our demands, please sign this petition—let's demonstrate to the Board that New Trier students want specific, ongoing, and in-depth education on systemic racism.

Public Comment submitted to the Board of Education:

New Trier Board of Education,

We—Mira Becker, class of 2020, and Maya Crystal, class of 2021—are writing on behalf of the students and alumni of New Trier who signed our petition in support of this statement. Since the murder of George Floyd, many students and alumni of New Trier have been reflecting on the systemic racism in our community, and how we can effectively uproot it. We believe education is the key to dismantling racism: only by thoroughly understanding the systemic and persistent anti-Blackness in the U.S. can we begin to make deep, long-lasting change. 

After reading through the New Trier 2030 strategic plan and the Equity Goals Initiative Update from September 2019, we are concerned that, as of now, New Trier 2030 is attempting to promote equity without first doing the work of unlearning racism and understanding white privilege. For the 2019-2020 department equity goals, only the Social Studies Department planned on including systemic racism in the curriculum, but no specific plans were set forth. Additionally, while some school-wide efforts to address racism were attempted this past year, these efforts felt forced and were more performative than constructive. For example, the Advisery lessons on the N-word seemed like a band-aid covering a much bigger issue. We need to talk about the N-word, but we also need to address police brutality, generational disparities in wealth and housing, medical racism, white privilege, and all other forms of systemic racism. If we want to truly create progress in our community, we need to have challenging and uncomfortable conversations beyond specific issues that arise to ensure that our students understand the scope of systemic racism in our country.

We hope that, going forward, the school board will prioritize specific strategies to educate students on systemic racism in the U.S. These initiatives must be long-term and ongoing: a couple days of lessons, while important, cannot substitute for a commitment to dismantling systemic racism. Therefore, we urge the board to take the following three actions. First, bring back Seminar Day. This day will provide students with time and space to reflect on systemic racism in our community, as well as participate in workshops that help students better understand the issue. Second, incorporate Black history into history curriculums. Topics such as red lining and present day racism, along with many others, are not covered in the current curriculum and need to be for students to have a true understanding of the issue. Third, diversify the English curriculum. While students in some classes may read a few books on the subject of race and/or written by authors of Color, it's crucial that diversity of text and thought is expanded to all students. Bringing literature about systemic racism into the classroom also opens up a meaningful dialog about systemic racism in our own lives that helps students recognize the depth of the issue and fight to make our community and society more just. These three actions are only the first steps, and New Trier needs to commit to a long term strategy for addressing systemic racism in past and present forms in order to reach its equity goals and provide a safe learning environment for all students. New Trier has a responsibility beyond our community as well: if schools like New Trier do not teach students about the deep systemic racism in our country, how can we ever expect to dismantle it?

We also urge you to prioritize the voices of Black people and other People of Color. The struggles they face as People of Color in a heavily white school and neighborhood go unacknowledged and unaddressed. New Trier 2030 must center their needs and perspectives in order to achieve true equity. 

Thank you.